BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 39.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,737 shares of the bank's stock after selling 9,044 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,380,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,570,000 after buying an additional 223,805 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,533,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,490,000 after purchasing an additional 208,000 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $10,856,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 136.2% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 196,964 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,324,000 after purchasing an additional 113,571 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lowered their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies increased their price target on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ:ABCB traded up $1.42 on Tuesday, hitting $62.64. The stock had a trading volume of 281,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,227. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.23. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $45.89 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $285.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $276.06 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.81%.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Douglas D. Strange purchased 1,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 19,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. The trade was a 5.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

About Ameris Bancorp

Ameris Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Ameris Bank that provides range of banking services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through five segments: Banking Division, Retail Mortgage Division, Warehouse Lending Division, SBA Division, and Premium Finance Division. The company offers commercial and retail checking, regular interest-bearing savings, money market, individual retirement, and certificates of deposit accounts.